Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Interview with Christi J. Whitney, Author of Shadow + Giveaway

Welcome to Christi J. Whitney, author of The Romany Outcasts trilogy! She was kind enough to join us today to answer a few questions about her writing and herself.

Tell us about the main character. Who is
Sebastian Grey?

At the beginning of the story, Sebastian thinks of
himself as a fairly average teen – a little awkward, perhaps, with a sardonic
personality and a great group of friends. He lives with his foster brother,
tattoo artist Hugo Corsi. Sebastian has never really cared about his past,
choosing instead to focus on his plans to go to work for his brother after high
school. But everything changes when he discovers his brother is part of a secret
clan of Outcast Gypsies. Suddenly, strange things begin to happen to Sebastian,
and he struggles to figure out what’s going on.

I love that you write from the male point
of view. What’s it like for a female author writing from the male perspective?

The decision to write
from Sebastian’s point of view felt natural to me – maybe because I have boys
or because the character reminded me so much of some of my students when I
taught high school. Mainly, I think, it was just the way the story needed to be
told. I share a lot in common with Sebastian, so getting into his head was
actually pretty easy.

What are some interesting things you
learned while writing/researching The Romany Outcasts Trilogy?

I spent a lot of time researching Roma culture
for my series. I wanted to create my own fictional world of Gypsies, but at the
same time, I also wanted to be respectful and to present my characters in a way
that felt both real and believable. I found the culture to be so rich, with
great importance placed on tradition, and I really loved that.

When can we expect the third installment?

I currently writing
book three now, and HarperVoyager has a tentative release date of early 2017,
so we’ll see what happens!

If you could visit anyplace in the world
(cost is no object), where would you go?

Oh, hands down, I would go back to London.
It’s just my favourite city. And since cost is no object, let’s say all of the
UK and Ireland. That would be fantastic. I also would really love to visit New
Zealand, but we’ll stick with my first answer!

What’s your favorite TV show or movie? Your
Netflix addiction?

Wow, that’s a tough
one to narrow down. Doctor Who will
always be at the top of my list. I tend to watch a lot of fantasy and sci-fi.
My all-time favourite movie is The
Princess Bride. My Netflix addictions vary. I recently finished Daredevil, and now I’m juggling watching
Dark Matter by myself and How to Train Your Dragon: Race to the Edge
with my boys.

What is your favorite fairy tale, myth, or
fable?

The story of Beauty and the Beast has always held a
very special place in my heart, and I love reading and watching different
retellings of the story. I actually wrote The Romany Outcasts Series to be a
little bit of my own take on the tale.

Where can readers find you online?

I definitely use
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, but I also use Tumblr and Pinterest for my fangirling
and geeking out.

Now he’s become a creature whose sole purpose is to act as
guardian for secretive gypsy clans.

When the Romany gypsies claim Sebastian as their guardian,
he is given a second chance to protect Josephine Romany, the girl he thought he
might never see again.

But Sebastian is having his own problems. His transformation
is still ongoing, and not everyone trusts the new gargoyle within their clan.

Then a tragedy pushes him to make choices to fulfil his
duty, choices that might cost him everything.

Book One

Can you still love with a heart of stone?

Sebastian Grey always thought he was a fairly normal
teenager – good friends, decent grades and a pretty sweet job in his foster
brother’s tattoo shop.

But when Romany gypsies arrive in town, Sebastian discovers
that his world is not what it seems. There is an age-old feud between his family
and the gypsies – and this isn’t the only secret his brother has been keeping
from him. His life is not his own. The girl he’s been dreaming about has just
turned up at school, and he feels compelled to protect her at all costs.

Christi J. Whitney is the author of The Romany Outcasts
Series (HarperCollins/HarperVoyagerUK).

She's a former high school theatre director with a love for the dramatic.
Christi lives just outside of Atlanta with her husband and two sons.

When not spending time with them or taking a ridiculous number of trips to
Disney World, she is usually directing plays, geeking out over Doctor Who,
making costumes for sci-fi/fantasy conventions, watching superhero movies, or
pretending she's a tad bit British.

Gotta Love Bookbub!

I'm on Instagram!

Follow me on Twitter

Like Kimber Leigh Wheaton on Facebook

Google Friend Connect

Follow Me With Bloglovin

Google+ Followers

Looking for Something?

About Me

Bestselling and award-winning YA author with a soft spot for sweet romance. In addition to writing, she works as an editor for two publishers, as well as select indie authors. She shares her home with her teenage son, three dogs, and lots of dragons. Kimber Leigh is addicted to romance, videogames, superheroes, villains,
and chocolate—not necessarily in that order. (If she has to choose, she’ll take
a chocolate covered superhero!) She currently lives in San Antonio, TX but has
been somewhat a rolling stone in life, having resided in several different
cities and states.